This walk was not planned (nor were the next two!) It was quickly decided to go West Ham Park. No! This was not the West Ham FC ground (that is in Upton Park…)
The park was hidden behind metal fences on the main road, which was a shame. It had quite few hidden treasures. The first were the Ornamental Gardens – 7 acres in size ! They were certainly well kept. A friendly squirrel or two greeted me – which was rather nice. I was also very impressed with the wooden carving in the tree – but unfortunately – there was no information to say who was responsible sadly. As we walked around it was good to see that Spring was finally in the air, as Crocuses were in abundance. It was obvious that these gardens were well maintained with pagodas, a pond, a mysterious No. 16. there were even Palm trees!
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| From 2010 – 05.03.2010 – West Ham Park – Stratford – Leyton Midland Road Walk |
The park also contained one other surprise – the big greenhouses at the back of the park are the nurseries for Kew Gardens. Unfortunately this was not for public viewing, so could only peak through the windows.
After strolling through the rest of the park, we decided to see if we could find stratford park – which was meant to be nearby. Walking into Stratford itself – however to find a sign proved to be a bit tricky in the end. Walking through the high street and the little market and shops – it is a little hard to believe the Olympics will be heading this way in 2012. On the search for the signs we found Lea Valley Walk and Discover Stratford walk. However both were a little misleading as the Lea Valley signs just ran out and Discover Stratford led us to Discover Stratford Rail station!
Unfortunately, as we lost the River Lea Signs and realised the rest of stratford is just a huge building site, it was decided to walk on. Armed only with the knowledge that we should walk towards Leyton to find the River, we had to find a route around the “Olympic Park” The Sun was going down and I could just make out the new Olympic Staduim
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| From 2010 – 05.03.2010 – West Ham Park – Stratford – Leyton Midland Road Walk |
Walking past Drapers field, we walked into Leyton itself. Although Leyton seemed very urban, we did manage to find a sign to Lea Valley Campsite – was not expecting that! We did find the Coronation Gardens – which were opened in 1903 – nice to see they were still there after all these years 🙂
Although Leyton Orient FC ground was nearby, we didnt investigate. It was then it started to get dark and time to finish the walk. We decided to go Leyton Midland Road to catch a train. Whilst waiting for the train, I managed to capture the sunset from the platform
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| From 2010 – 05.03.2010 – West Ham Park – Stratford – Leyton Midland Road Walk |
Lovely, time then to get back for tea – The entire route is as follows
Route Map
All my photos are as follows –
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| 2010 – 05.03.2010 – West Ham Park – Stratford – Leyton Midland Road Walk |
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